Tuscaloosa teams wins Alabama trilevel tennis championship

Left to right: Josh Hastings, Clay Wilson, Steve Burdette, Kevin Krieger and Clete Browder won the U.S. tennis
association 3.5/4.0/4.5 trilevel state championship.

USTA

By Becky HopfSpecial to The Tuscaloosa News

Published: Tuesday, October 8, 2013 at 10:00 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, October 8, 2013 at 10:37 p.m.

They started out in the hole and emerged as state champions.

The Tuscaloosa U.S. Tennis Association men’s trilevel 3.5/4.0/4.5 team is the city’s latest tennis success story, having won the Alabama state championship in Gulf Shores at the USTA trilevel state championships.

The winning team included Clay Wilson, who also coached, captain Steve Burdette, Kevin Krieger, Clete Browder and Josh Hastings.

Tuscaloosa also produced a champion in Staci Carter Hannig, the tennis director and professional at Tuskaloosa Racquet Club. She and her sister, former Tuscaloosa resident Kim Carter Payne, played on the state champion women’s 4.0/4.5/5.0 team from Birmingham.

“The unique thing about this, and what made it kind of special,” Wilson, the assistant tennis professional at Indian Hills Country Club, said of the men‘s team win, “was that we only had five players. You have to fill three courts, meaning you need six players. We had someone pull out at the last minute, so we only had five there. So we had to forfeit that third court.”

That meant Tuscaloosa started each of its matches one point down. To win doubles, teams had to win two of the three courts.

Tuscaloosa played teams from Montgomery and Mobile twice. It lost one match to Montgomery and swept every other match, aside from the automatic forfeit point.

In trilevel tennis, players at different levels are mixed together. A player can play up a level but can’t play down.

“It’s fun,” Wilson said, “because you can’t play down. If you’re a 4.5, you can’t play down. But if you’re a 3.5 or a 4.0, you can play up, so it makes it fun, playing at different levels. We’re all pretty good friends and play together just about every week, so it was good to have those guys there. We’ve played (together as a team) in the league play only since June or July, but we’d only played about six matches until we went to state.”

It is believed to be the city’s first men’s state trilevel title in that division.

Many of the USTA state championships advance winners to the Southern Sectionals, but there are not sectionals for trilevel champions because other states in the Southern section don’t enough teams. Wilson said next year the USTA is planning to hold a Southern trilevel sectional.

<p>They started out in the hole and emerged as state champions.</p><p>The Tuscaloosa U.S. Tennis Association men's trilevel 3.5/4.0/4.5 team is the city's latest tennis success story, having won the Alabama state championship in Gulf Shores at the USTA trilevel state championships.</p><p>The winning team included Clay Wilson, who also coached, captain Steve Burdette, Kevin Krieger, Clete Browder and Josh Hastings.</p><p>Tuscaloosa also produced a champion in Staci Carter Hannig, the tennis director and professional at Tuskaloosa Racquet Club. She and her sister, former Tuscaloosa resident Kim Carter Payne, played on the state champion women's 4.0/4.5/5.0 team from Birmingham.</p><p>“The unique thing about this, and what made it kind of special,” Wilson, the assistant tennis professional at Indian Hills Country Club, said of the men's team win, “was that we only had five players. You have to fill three courts, meaning you need six players. We had someone pull out at the last minute, so we only had five there. So we had to forfeit that third court.”</p><p>That meant Tuscaloosa started each of its matches one point down. To win doubles, teams had to win two of the three courts.</p><p>Tuscaloosa played teams from Montgomery and Mobile twice. It lost one match to Montgomery and swept every other match, aside from the automatic forfeit point.</p><p>In trilevel tennis, players at different levels are mixed together. A player can play up a level but can't play down.</p><p>“It's fun,” Wilson said, “because you can't play down. If you're a 4.5, you can't play down. But if you're a 3.5 or a 4.0, you can play up, so it makes it fun, playing at different levels. We're all pretty good friends and play together just about every week, so it was good to have those guys there. We've played (together as a team) in the league play only since June or July, but we'd only played about six matches until we went to state.”</p><p>It is believed to be the city's first men's state trilevel title in that division.</p><p>Indian Hills also had a women's team finish second in the 2.5/3.0/3.5 division. Two other teams competed. The 2.5/3.0/3.5 team consisted of Beth Burchfield, Trina Wilkin, Margie Hartley, DeDe Clary, captain Robin Holley, Sherry Elsbury, Stacey Fleenor, Allison Lehman, Maria Denney, Michelle Waldron, Theresa Long, Jennifer Hagler and Ellen Turnipseed. </p><p>Indian Hills sent a 3.0/3.5/4.0 team of Angela Shaw, Jennifer McComb, Meg Crowe, Jana Smith, Jennifer Richardson, Barb Toale, Cindy Lake, Sheila Gambrell, Lisa Trentham and Becci Hauser, and another 3.0/3.5/4.0 team of Kelly Gardner, Kathy Garayanala, Crowe, Kristine Fitts, captain Kristi Jackson, Robin Holley, Jennifer Richardson, Sherry Elsbury, Vicki Baxley and Tana Latham. </p><p>Many of the USTA state championships advance winners to the Southern Sectionals, but there are not sectionals for trilevel champions because other states in the Southern section don't enough teams. Wilson said next year the USTA is planning to hold a Southern trilevel sectional.</p>